Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The federal government during a session of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee for States and Frontier Regions’ (Safron) on Friday, formally asked lawmakers from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) for their final recommendations for the Riwaj Bill, which seeks to bring FATA into the mainstream on Friday.

The session, chaired by MNA Mohammad Jamalud Din, was focused on a discussion on FATA reforms and securing an approval for the bill, which it failed to achieve. Safron Minister Abdul Qadir Baloch informed the session that provincial and local body elections in FATA will be held in 2018, and asked the committee to reach a final decision on whether to accept or reject the Riwaj bill after Eidul Fitr.

Informing the committee on the progress made by the federal government on FATA reforms, Baloch said that the cabinet had approved previous recommendations and the process of implementing the 26-point agenda has begun. “Holding provincial elections in Fata by 2018 is the only point of concern for the government right now,” Baloch said.

He added that the current Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) system in FATA would cease to exist following the approval of FATA reforms. Baloch further claimed to have collected recommendations by reaching out to all agencies, which led to the creation of the 26-point agenda.

Taking a jab at the opposition, Baloch said the Fata reforms issue was being unnecessarily complicated. “The opponents are sometimes seen with Asif Zardari and other times with Imran Khan,” he said.

FATA MNA Bismillah Khan complained that the people of Fata did not want to become a part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying that conducting the provincial elections in 2018 would create further problems.